Review- India Ramey: Baptized by the Blaze
Baptized by the Blaze, the new album by outlaw country firebrand India Ramey, hits the ground at a full gallop and barely stops for a breath over 30-plus blazing, twanging minutes. It’s a rousing blend of honky-tonk brash-and-sass, by turns invigorating and healing, exploring themes of rebirth, redemption and just plain kicking ass.
The album brims with hard-won wisdom. Ramey has walked through the fire since her previous album, 2020’s excellent Shallow Graves. Just about the time that album was released, Ramey began reckoning with a long-term addiction to the tranquilizer Klonopin, which she had been prescribed to deal with trauma. Finally, she sought professional help to deal with the addiction and the underlying trauma.
Photo by Staci Huckeba
Baptized by the Blaze stands as a document of that journey, one that’s left her stronger and better. The album weaves together foot-stompers and redemption songs. The commonality: The steel in her voice and the bite in her lyrics.
The album’s opening two songs set the tone.
The first, “Ain’t My First Rodeo,” is a twanging banger in which Ramey puts a would-be Romeo in his place. “These ain’t just boots, they’re bullshit kickers” is the standout line in that one. And like any great honky-tonk song, the lyrics fit the beat like a key fits the tumblers of a lock, propelling the whole thing rushing forward.
Title cut “Baptized by the Blaze” is Ramey’s song of rebirth. She makes herself a phoenix, burning herself down so she can rise from the ashes, born anew and better for it. Wiping the ashes away, “I spread my wings and fly.”
“The Mountain” deals most directly with recovery and stands as the heart and soul of the album. Healing isn’t a straight line; sometimes you backslide. A therapist taught her that that’s OK, Ramey says in the liner notes. Setbacks give you additional recovery tools. And inside, the good remains: “Avalanches come and go / And though they carve the scars I show / I still stand / I am the mountain.”
But don’t think this album is grim or sappy. It’s a barrel of fun.
At a glance, “It Could Have Been Me” could be a lament worthy of Tammy Wynette, the queen of sad country songs. (It’s the most classic country sounding song on the album, and Ramey even sings with a bit of Wynette catch in her voice.) She stares at her ex’s wedding announcement in the paper: “It could have been me / Wearing a gold ring / In a white dress / Drunk on champagne and buttercream.”
But no, this is an Anti-Tammy – someone else is stuck with that loser: “I breathe a sigh of relief / because it could have been me.”
And there’s lots more fun to be had. To the sounds of a double-time shuffle beat and roadhouse guitar picking, the protagonists of “Silverado” and “Down for the Count” are unapologetic hell-raisers who might be having a good time just one time, but it’s a hell of a good time.
“Go on Git” employs a male-female singalong chorus to implore bad politicians to get the hell out, but the sentiment applies to any no-goodniks in our lives. “Don’t let the door hit you where the good Lord split you / I’ve had enough, alright now go on git.”
Baptized by the Blaze is like a shot of adrenaline right into my honky-tonk heart. The album releases Aug. 23, appropriately enough on Mule Kick Records, because this one kicks a little ass.
Find out more about India Ramey at the links below: